PRIOR ART DISCUSSION
Methyl mercaptan is a well known article of commerce used as an intermediate for the manufacture of a variety of agricultural chemicals, including methionine, a widely used feed supplement for poultry.
In copending, coassigned application Ser. No. 334,034 filed Dec. 23, 1981 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,731, a continuous process for reacting a carbon oxide, sulfur or hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen at elevated pressure and temperature, is disclosed. The reaction is carried out over a catalyst system comprising a porous alumina-containing support on which is deposited a mixture of a sulfide of iron, nickel, zinc, chromium, cobalt or molybdenum along with an alkali metal sulfide (promoter).